Return To Wonderland
by rockinrose54
Summary: It's been years since Alice had left Wonderland. When a 16 year old girl known as "Audrey" discovers the land....something goes terribly wrong
1. Chapter 1

Return to Wonderland

By Courtney Erickson

Chapter 1

_Can you keep a secret?_

My name is Audrey L. Gibson. I live in Montana with my older sister, Satine and my mother Rebecca. If you met me, you would think I was a totally average, normal high school student. I seem to blend in with everyone, with my auburn hair and startling green eyes, my creamy skin, my bright smile. You would think that I was like any other 16 year old girl.

I am here to inform you that you would be wrong.

My life wasn't always like this. It was normal. I had always wanted to find more in life. I longed for exciting adventures in faraway places. I dreamt of things you couldn't even imagine yourself. Now, I find myself wishing I hadn't. I now wish for my once normal, basic life. When your life is as crazy as mine, you can only hope that you will someday have a chance to live normally.

I bet you are wondering what my story is. I bet right now, as you are reading this page, you are trying figure out what could have possibly have happened to me. It all started in my Sophmore year.

-----------------

I stared at my feet as I walked on the cold, brick sidewalk. Red and yellow leaves were scattered on top of it, painting a picture that looks like it should've been a great work of art. My black converse sneakers made a delightful little clap across the sidewalk.

_Clip,_

_Clop,_

_Clip,_

_Clop._

In between claps, I stepped on the occasional leaf which crunched and crackled beneath my shoes. I was walking home from my choir rehearsal. I had been in choir for a long time, and I couldn't find anything else that could give me such passion. Singing filled me with hope and dreams not even words can describe. It painted pictures in my head of things you couldn't imagine. I turned in to the corner of my neighborhood.

That's when I met her.

_To be continued…………._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Return to Wonderland

By Courtney Erickson

That was when I met her. I saw her sitting on the curb, drawing pictures in the sand with a stick. Black, silky hair hid her face from me, as she leaned over. I wondered if I should approach her. What if she flipped out? I've never seen her on this street before. Then again, I've never seen her at all really. I had no idea who this girl was. But why not? I was so tired of being normal. So tired of blending in with everyone else. Was it so wrong to take a chance every now and then? Determined, I strode on to the point where she sat. Although I was sure she had heard my loud footsteps, she didn't even shift her position. I crouched down next to her, almost afraid of her.

"A…are you okay?" I asked, trying to remain calm, hiding the extreme curiosity in my voice. She lifted her head to face me. I nearly gasped. She was startling beautiful. She had silky, shiny, ebony black hair that was razor cut and it fell on her shoulders like a beautiful silk curtain. Her eyes were the most alarming. An unbelievable shade of purple. How could anyone be so incredibly beautiful?

"If you swear not to tell anyone, can I show you something?" She replied, ignoring my first question. Her voice was rich and beautiful.

"I…I guess so, but I'm-" I said trying to finish, but she stood quickly, offering me a hand. Her style was edgy. Black skinny jeans with a blood red shirt with edgy designs on it. I stood. Those thoughts ran in my head again. _what if this _and _what if that. _I pushed them out of my head, refusing to be defeated by doubt and fear, yet again. Hesitantly, I offered my hand. She led me across the street, through and alley, and stopped in the middle of a meadow. The meadow was unlike anything I had ever seen in my life. The grass was a shade of green that shouldn't have existed on this planet. The trees were tall and fairy tale like. Little, fluffy tuffs of cotton drifted in the breeze. Probably from a nearby cotton tree. She led me over to a small little hill.

I had guessed right. There stood a mountainous cotton tree. And below it, I wide gaping hole in the ground. A wave of curiosity washed over me. Something I had never really felt before.

Then I realized something. I didn't even know this girl's name! What if she was leading me into a deadly trap? Once again, I ignored these thoughts.

"I…..um, this is going to seem random….but I don't even know your name." I said.

"It's Arianna." She took me by my shoulders and looked me in my eyes directly. I wanted to look away from her strange, violet, eyes.

"Listen. I need you to look down through this hole. Tell me if you see anything." She said with a strange look in her eyes, I couldn't quite point it out. I nodded, nervously and crouched beneath the huge cotton tree. I peered into the crater, my heart pounding.

"Ask, for the hatter. They need you. Good luck. I know you can do it Audrey" Arianna said. Before I couldn't even say _what?! _She shoved me into the hole. I screamed at the top of my lungs. Air wooshed by me for what seemed miles and miles. I fell for hours.

Down,

Down,

Down.

Down into a place you could never dream of.

_To be continued………_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Return To Wonderland

By Courtney Erickson

Down, down, down. I fell into the strange gaping hole in the ground. Cold, crisp air, whooshed past me for what seemed hours. My eyes burned, forcing them shut. I tried to scream, but the pressure from the air was far too strong. It constricted my stomach. Or maybe, it was the fear that silenced my screams.

I finally landed, with a big slap. A wave of incredible pain rushed through my body, making me call out. My head throbbed, I felt sick to my stomach, I was so afraid I could barely breathe. After, I let the pain pass, I tried to find my bearings. Too afraid to open my eyes, I felt my hands across the surface I had landed. I felt like tile. Cold, hard tile, that had been there for years and years. How could there be tile underground?? Curiosity then came over me. That curiosity in which had led me to this strange place in the first place. I sat up, on my knees, and opened my eyes.

Pitch, black, darkness.

You've never really been in pitch black darkness unless you've been there. It consumes you, filling your heart with fear. It runs through your veins, pumping your heat faster and faster. I blinked, trying to erase this thick, darkness. I did not succeed.

Then came the fear.

The feeling of being trapped. The feeling of no way out. The feeling of never again seeing the light of day. Fear I'm sure not even you, the reader who has taken the time to read my story, has even experienced. I felt warm, wet tears roll down my cheeks. Tears full of the strangest emotion. I screamed. I yelled. I called out for a sound. For a noise. For a sign. For _something! _Something other than this dark abyss. I felt defeated. I felt lost. I felt like nothing. I returned to my laying down position, so I could cry myself to my last, fatal minutes of my life. This was the most pathetic moment of my life. I hated my self for letting me be so careless. _This _is what happens when I let my guard down.

Then I heard it.

A voice.

"Oh please do stop sobbing so! It's slightly annoying!" It said, with a thick nasally tone. I sat up, immediately, almost smiling. Hope filled me. That voice was a small glimmer of light in this dark abyss. I was going to _live! _I would live to see me graduation, my wedding, the birth of my first child. I would _survive!_

"Please!!! Please, I need help! I…I-I don't know where I am! I was pushed by this girl and I fell down, down, down, and I crashed. I'm cold, and hungry and I am so confused!" I said holding back my tears.

"Okay, just calm down. It's going to be okay." Just find the light switch on the wall." The mystery person said to me. I rose, stretching my legs. The trembled in pain from the fall, but walked on, my arms spread out in front of me. My hands wondered along the wall, covered in some sort of wallpaper that was wrinkled and torn. Finally, I had found the light switch. I flipped it on as the a musky, dim yellow light illuminated the place I had once thought would be my grave. I felt so silly, for acting how I did. I am such a drama queen sometimes. But how was I supposed to know? I just fell through a gaping hole in the grouned! Well, I really was just pushed down…

The room was small. A pathetic ceiling lamp dangled from a crumbling ceiling. The wall paper was yellowish and faded. Some was peeling off the walls. The floor was indeed tile. Black tile. There stood a table and a wooden chair. I swirled around, looking for the strange voice. It wasn't a man, nor woman. Not even a human being! It was a _doorknob!!_ It rolled it's eyes at me.

"You people are all the same. You suffer one measly little fall down a rabbit's hole and go into hysteria and have a midlife crisis. With that temperament you are never going to survive in Wonderland." The voice stayed nasally and annoying.

I felt like I was going to faint. A doorknob just talked to me! Then I realized something

"Wait…w-what do you mean _Wonderland??" _I said. _To be continued……_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Return To Wonderland

By Courtney Erickson

"Wait, what do you mean _Wonderland?" _I said, shocked. I have to be dreaming. This cannot be happening.

The doorknob once again rolled his eyes at me. "Wonderland is where you are now. Well, I guess where you _will _be, if you go through my door. I suppose you have met a girl named Arianna?"

"Yes, I have actually. It was quite strange…..She told me to ask for the hatter, I have no idea what that means…." I said, remembering what the girl had said to me before I had plummeted to this strange place I could never imagine.

"Ah, I see. Things are going quite smoothly then. I suppose you haven't met a girl named 'Alice?" He said to me once again.

"Well, no I haven't. Who is she?" I replied, curiosity leaking through my disguise.

"Alice, oh dear….. She was supposed to return, but we haven't heard from her at all. Not even once." I looked away for a moment, glancing at the table and chair, and sighed. This was all so very strange.

"Well….apparently I am uh….'needed' here….I have no idea what I'm supposed to do or where I am to go…but I guess I am going to need to enter through your door. Your door is too small for me….I don't see how I could possibly fit in through there….." I said, hoping there was a way I could get out of this. All I wanted now was to be home, with my family in our little house in Montana. I closed my eyes, picturing my warm kitchen, with my mother making supper and my sister and I talking quietly at the table. The smell of comfort and warmth drifted through the air. I opened my eyes, sighing. I needed to be home with my family. I must be hallucinating or something. There is no way a place like 'Wonderland' or whatever could even exist.

"….I'm sorry, but I can't be here. I have to home with my family. They are probably wondering where I am. I can't stay here!" I said, standing up.

"Oh but you _must _stay! Wonderland is in peril! If you won't stay, then this will continue and there will be no hope for us all! And there is no telling if Alice will ever return. It has been _decades _since we have seen her! Oh please Audrey, we need you." The doorknob said pleadingly. Oh great, one other person who unexplainably knows my name.

"What is with all you people knowing my name? I have never seen you before in my life! And besides, doorknobs can't talk anyway. It's impossible!" I said frustrated, crossing my arms.

"Why of course we can talk! Don't be silly. Anything can happen in Wonderland." He said again. "Now, on that table over there is a small bottle. Drink it, and you will shrink down to fir through this door! Please Audrey, obviously there is no way to get home down here. The only way now is Wonderland." He said. That did make me think for a while. Obviously there was no way out here. Except for 'Wonderland' or whatever it was. I sighed.

"Well….ok. I guess it wouldn't hurt to try it…." I walked over to the wooden table and looked at the small bottle sitting on the table. The top was covered with a cork and around it there was a note that read "DRINK ME". I held the little bottle up my eyes. The liquid was clear. It shimmered and sparkled and looked as if it held tiny diamond crystals inside it. My trembling hand pulled of the cork. A cloud of silver dust shot out and shimmered away from the bottle, almost like a deranged and unusual form of evaporation.

"Go on, drink it." The doorknob said, behind me. I opened my lips and poured the liquid down my throat. Immediately, I felt a strange whooshing sensation and everything around me turned into a blur. Before I knew it, I was about 3 inches tall.

"This is so weird…." I said.

"HA! You think this is strange? Audrey, this is nothing! You are going to need to get used to strange things. All of Wonderland is strange. Even I'm strange. And if you spend enough time there, _you _will be strange too!" He said chuckling. I just looked at him, not even wanting to reply to that…

"Well, that's that then…..all that's left to do now, is to go through the door!" He said. At that very moment, he opened the door. A swirl of colorful light filled the room. In the doorway there were colors, swirling in circular motion. Almost as if someone took a bunch of acrylic paints and swirled them together. I walked toward the door and set my foot through, entering the world that would change my life.

_To be continued…………._


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Return to Wonderland

By Courtney Erickson

I stepped through the doorway. Brilliant colors swirled all around me. I shut my eyes tightly. The colors were giving me a headache. I felt soft grass under my feet, and I smelled the aroma of roses and tulips. I opened my eyes.

It was the absolute, most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my entire life. I looked all around me. This was even more brilliant than the meadow. The grass was purple, almost like Arianna's eyes. Enormous, towering trees stood before me. Then again, I _was _currently only 3 inches tall right now. My head only went to the top of each blade of purple grass. There were flowers _everywhere! _Of all brilliant shades and types I had never seen before. They all had faces and had their eyes were closed. They looked unbelievably graceful. They swayed synchronized in the wind. All of them smiling, they hummed a tune in perfect harmony. It was just as beautiful as the sight of the land. So beautiful, it made tears come to my eyes.

"_Oh, _this is so truly wonderful!" I said smiling. At that moment, each flower opened their eyes abruptly. They stopped humming, they stopped swaying, and they looked directly at me. I felt…..afraid of these beautiful creatures.

"Alright ladies, move aside, coming through." A soft, sweet, and gentle voice said. It sounded as if it came from and angel. The flowers all parted to the sides and turned their heads away from me. I stood there, looking awfully plain next to them. And there she was. She stood there on her perfect and thin stem and looked at me. She was a white rose. The most beautiful of them all. Graceful drops of what seemed like dew decorated her petals, that shimmered and sparkled. Her eyes were a soft, pale shade of blue under long and beautiful eyelashes.

"Oh, my dear. You look terrified! Are you alright?" She said to me, in the most amazing, perfect tone.

"I-….I am very sorry to intrude on you…..but….I was told that I had to see the hatter." I said, pretending that I actually knew what I was talking about.

"Oh yes, yes ,yes my dear. You must be the brave and lovely Audrey, am I correct?" She asked me. She placed a leaf on my back and ushered me toward a comfy chair by a table with a lovely tea set out. I sat down, softly.

"Yes, I-…I am…" I said, still wondering why everyone knows my name.

"We have been waiting for you, darling. Alice hasn't returned in decades! It's absolutely dreadful!" She said, sipping her tea from very fine china.

"Yes,….I-I see…This is a very lovely bed of flowers. It's absolutely stunning." I said trying to be polite……that wasn't my best idea.

She stood furiously. Her petals flared out and her eyes changed from feminine, pale blue to infuriating red.

"We are most certainly NOT just _flowers! _We are so much _more _than that!" Her voice boomed powerfully, yet remained graceful. I was once again terrified. After she had calmed down, her eyes returned to pale blue and her petals relaxed and she sat down.

"I'm so sorry for that outburst sweetie, it's just we are not just _flowers! _We are the voices of Wonderland! We hum tunes and sing songs all day long for Wonderland. Our voices carry out through the entire land. Our music paints pictures. We add passion to this land ,and we had harmony to this land. We combine nature with music to form a symphony of peace. You _do _understand?" She said and sat down again. I relaxed also.

"Of course! I'm very sorry, it's just I've never been here before…." I said quietly.

"No worries, darling. To make up for my uh, "uncalled-for-outburst" I'd love to invite you to sing with us for a bit!" She said, clasping her hands together.

"Ugh! But Eleonora! We don't even know if she _can _sing! She will ruin the whole song." Pouted a nearby crimson red flower. The white rose's name must've been Eleonora then….

"Quiet, Fabala, we must be kind." She said scolding to the red flower. "Well then darling, would you mind singing a song for us then? Just to see what type of voice you have, pet." She said to me. Of course, I couldn't refuse, remembering how quickly she change emotions.

"Well, I do know this one song I sing in my voice lesson class. It's from a movie known as "The Phantom of the Opera." It really is a beautiful song." I said.

"Well, let's hear it then! The white rose known as Eleonora said. I stood up so I could have correct singing posture, I breathed deeply for a few seconds. I closed my eyes, I began to feel the emotion of the song "_Think of me". _Still with my eyes closed, I began to sing.

The notes poured out of my heart, just as they always had done. I let them flow through the air. They painted pictures in my head. Without this song, my mind was a black, velvet, canvas. Using inspiration as my paintbrush I painted a symphony of colors. I painted emotion, and love, and passion. I painted joy, and happiness. I painted longing, and yearning, and hoping. I painted music. I swayed with the music. I let the notes sweep my soul off my feet. I let it carry me anywhere in my mind. I allowed it in, I let it fill me like air. I let it pump through me like blood in my veins. I let the music consume me.

After the song had finished, I opened my eyes, and I saw Eleonora in tears. I blushed.

"That………was……._beautiful! _So much passion, so much understanding! Such brilliant use of timing and dynamics!" She said wiping a tear from her eyes.

"Well….it was ok…." I said…lying.

"ok? It was magnificent! Oh please, darling join us in chorus!" She said to me. I nodded a yes. "We shall call you, "The Sparkling Diamond!" You will sing with us forever, in harmony, and peace." She said.

Oh, crap. I thought. I can't stay here _forever!_

"Um, I'm terribly sorry Eleonora, but…..I can't stay. I need to go…." I said, nervously….

"WHAT?! How dare you refuse an offer like this! You….y-you little _weed!" _She said, almost her face melting. Her eyes shifted to a shade of uninviting and cold black. The other flowers around her hissed and snarled at me.

_To be continued………………………_


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Return To Wonderland

By Courtney Erickson

I cowered in fear, Eleonora stood, towering over me creating a very large, menacing shadow. The other "flowers" or whatever they considered themselves to be hissed and snarled at me like I was a bottle of rat poison or a slice of moldy bread.

"It is an _honor _to sing with my Golden Afternoon! Not one soul has ever turned down this offer in our very existence!" Eleonora's voice seemed to boom across this place in which they called "Wonderland".

"Thistle!" The red flower Eleonora had called Fabala hissed at me.

"Crabgrass!" A violet flower snarled.

"Why she's about as fragrant and beautiful as poison ivy!" A what seemed like golden tulip stuck her nose up into the air as she said this to me. I may not know much about talking/singing/crazy-mood-changing flowers, but I know _that_ can't be a compliment.

"Look, I really am I very sorry to turn down your offer, but I need to find the hatter!" I said, fearfully. Eleonora rolled her black, darkened eyes at me. Those once pale, angel-like eyes seemed more like a portal into a dark, unforgiving abyss.

"Oh _please! _You didn't just 'turn down' an honor! You insulted and humiliated an honor! We banish you from the Meadow of Melodies. May you be hated down into history of Wonderland!" Eleonora scolded me, furiously shaking her head at me. Her leaves acted like hands and were clenched tightly into fists. The flowers shoved at me and pushed me away. They pulled my hair and slapped my face till it stung.

I was tossed and turned until eventually I had left the miserable flower bed. The flowers turned away from me murmuring mean and nasty things at me. Like I actually cared that I was insulted by a flower. Now that I was out of that place, it was time to move on, to venture further into Wonderland. I looked all around me, surveying where I was. My risky and curious decisions hadn't done me much good. I was stuck in a dark wood. Behind me was a heaven of colors and joy, while this place was a forest of coldness, and black.

Twisted and gnarled trees stood out of the ground, which were stripped of their leaves. The ground was no longer a brilliant shade of violet, but an ugly shade of brown and moss. It smelled like mold and mildew. I wanted to hold my nose, but as if that was one of my major issues right now!! I was stuck in a place that seemed like a hallucination! My main concern right now was to stay alive and get home somehow. I walked through the dark woods, terrified of what lay before me. After what seemed like miles of walking, I came to a towering gate.

Why was everything towering over me in this world? Oh yeah, that stupid drink made me about 3 inches tall!!

The gate was mad of stone, and wasn't locked. Why not go in?

"Yes, hehehe! Why _not _go in child?" A strange giggly voice chuckled behind me. Yet again, I was thoroughly surprised.

There sat, a brightly colored, purple and pink striped cat.

"W-what?!" I said, not meaning 'what did you say', but meaning 'How is that possible?!?!'

"Why, did you not hear me? I said why _not _go in? After all, the gate is unlocked! And who knows what wondrous things lie behind it!" The cat said. It crept down from its tree branch a sat next to me, a bit taller than I was. "You could find anything behind that gate! _Anything! _Don't you want to find out, Audrey? Do really want to go on all your life remembering that one moment when you could've entered, but didn't? Besides, it's no big deal! If no one was allowed inside, then why isn't it locked?" The cat circled me, whispering these things in my ear. After considering this, I was extremely tempted. I decided I should at least know someone's name before I take their directions.

"What is your name?" I asked the peculiar cat.

"Why! I don't really have name really! People call me many different things. One of which is most common: 'Cheshire Cat'. I really don't know why they would call me that. It is a town in Connecticut." The cat rattled on and on.

"Connecticut! That's a city in the land I come from! Do you know how I might get back there?" I asked, praying this cat might know something that might help me.

"Of course I do. But you can't leave! No, no, no! Wonderland is in peril, and if you leave it will remain this way and all will be lost! The only beautiful place that remains in Wonderland is the Meadow of Melodies, which has been overcome by a bunch of snobby flowers!" The cat pleaded.

"I know, I was there earlier…." I said.

"Yes, I see. You need to be careful in Wonderland! Although its beauty has been lost, the madness remains. Of course, I guess we all are mad in our own little way! Hehehe!" Giggled the Cheshire Cat once again.

"Yes…..Might you know where I am to be going? I was told to see the hatter. I'm terribly lost…." I said to the crazed cat.

"Oh but of course I know where he is! Right here, through this gate! I must warn you, he is terribly mad. But no worried Audrey, I'll always be here, just waiting!" Said the Cheshire Cat. And just like that, he disappeared, almost poofed away into the wood.

Then I guess I had better go through this gate…..

I began to turn the lever with my trembling hand…………..

_To be continued_


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